


Treason

by CoffeeCats



Series: Hollow Destiny AU [4]
Category: Destiny (Video Games), Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Body Horror, Mild Gore, because i'm not sure where creepy king should fall, erring on the side of caution with the rating, hollow destiny au, in which xero does his thing and the king does his
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 20:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18483433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeCats/pseuds/CoffeeCats
Summary: Xero turns his blades against the King, but misjudges his target's mortality.





	Treason

Silence.

An undercurrent of determination blended with cunning blended with shock.

A quiet, involuntary wheeze as perforated organs decided to fail.

The King straightened as much as the blades would allow. Chitin shattered and flaked away from the puncture wounds. His wings, pinned to his back as they now were, tore as the angles of the blades changed with his posture. Already ruined organs were sliced open farther.

It was truly a novel sensation.

A curious claw traced the edge of one blade. They were well made and well cared for, though now stained with the dark ichor that seeped out of him. It traveled down the blades, tracing around the delicate engravings before dropping to the floor with a steady, quiet rhythm.

His head tilted up, eyes observing his assailant from behind his mask. In a moment, he read the bug’s existence and knew him.

“Xero, is it not?” His voice was a whisper but it rang as loud as a shout in the silence that surrounded them.

The bug before him stood frozen – perhaps in shock; perhaps waiting for him to die as any other bug might. How unfortunate, then, that he was not any other bug.

Ichor drip... drip… dripped to the floor.

The King’s claw stopped its idle tracing.

His hand closed around the first blade and slowly pulled it from his own chest. Ichor flowed free, staining his robes and tracking down to the tiles beneath his feet. Light danced across the dark liquid and bright blade, bringing both to life as the King gently rotated it to follow the line of clever runes.

There was the scent of fear he had expected.

“What did you hope to accomplish here?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.

Xero hesitated, eyes flicking from freed blade to mortal wound, before steeling himself in his certainty.

“To stop you,” he said, trying to hide the waver in his voice. “You would kill us all to continue this war and this mad plan of yours.”

“Is that so?”

The second blade slid free and the King set them aside. The torn remnants of his wings twitched against his back, irritating themselves on fabric and viscera. They would need to be replaced. It was a shame Xero appeared to be flightless.

“I will not let you kill this Kingdom.”

The red-clad bug balled his hands into fists – perhaps trying to call back the clever blades; perhaps as a reminder of bravery. An endearing and entirely futile mortal gesture. He could feel the fear beneath the delicate shroud of Logic. How many had Xero cut down to get to him?

Hunger stirred deep within the King – hunger that had been gnawing at him since the loss of his host – and he reached up to his own mask. It pulled free, dissolved into idle nothingness, and the King flexed the jaws that had been stiffly hidden for so long. Many eyes blinked in sequence as he properly sized up his assassin.

Terror sliced through the air – sharp and bright – before Xero muffled it. The bug was good, but overly ambitious. It was a pity, really. He would have been a valuable Knight.

The King closed the distance between them, claws hooking into chitin as Xero tried to flinch away.

“You should be proud, Xero – Traitor to the Throne,” he said. “Few could have made it this far, and fewer still would have thought of the runes.”

Shell cracked beneath the King’s hand as his claws dug deeper. Xero drew a sharp breath and closed his eyes. The King wondered if he tried to pray to another god.

“Know that your tribute will give strength to our cause.”

It was quick. Merciful, he supposed, if he could be considered as such.

For a time, his hunger was sated.


End file.
